Tax Policy and the (Dying) American Dream
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Foreword
Tax Policy and the (Dying?)
American Dream
KIRK J. STARK*
Sadly, the American Dream is dead.
Donald J. Trump, June 15, 20151
I. INTRODUCTION
The idea of the American Dream is one of the most enduring
concepts in all of U.S. politics and culture. The term itself is so com-
monplace that it is featured in numerous dictionaries, almost unneces-
sarily, alongside words like amentiferous and ametropia, which are
surely more deserving of the search effort. The Oxford English Dic-
tionary defines American Dream as [t]he ideal that every US citizen
should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity
through hard work, determination, and initiative.2 The original defi-
nition, widely attributed to Depression era author James Truslow Ad-
ams, is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer
and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to abil-
ity or achievement.3
In one way or another, the concept pervades nearly every channel
of American life-not just the usual venues of literature, film, and
television, but also K-12 classroom exercises, morning radio talk
shows, and virtually every campaign for public office, both high and
* Barrall Family Professor of Tax Law & Policy, UCLA School of Law. The author
would like to thank Jason Oh, Deborah, Schenk, and Eric Zolt for helpful comments on
earlier drafts.
1 See Full Text: Donald Trump Announces a Presidential Bid, Wash. Post, June 16,
2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/06/16/full-text-donald-
trump-announces-a-presidential-bid/?utm-term=.b73e6230cb09.
2 Oxford English Dictionary, http://www.oed.com/.
3 Adams continues, It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret
adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not
a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each
man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately
capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circum-
stances of birth or position. James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America 404 (1931).
409
Imaged with the permission of Tax Law Review of New York University School of Law](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/taxlr70&div=18&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Tax Policy and the (Dying) American Dream
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